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I think it's funny that the Obama bashers referred to him as black before he won the election and now that he is their President Elect he is now of mixed race in their minds.
Is the height of ignorance. Regardless of having a white mother and a black father, his skin color is still darker than a caucasian- and YES, BLACK and has a result, the barriers that he overcame to get to the white house were many, and up to just a few years ago- unthinkable for many.
Unless you are non-caucasian and have ever been treated different solely based on the darkness of your skin or your appearance- and nothing else- you really have no perspective on what this means. People's actions speak louder than their rhetoric.
Barack Obama is indeed America's first black President. To discount this in anyway is bigotry and America at it's absolute worst.
You won't get any argument from me.
Mr. Obama is also America's first Black President to have a white mother.
And the first President (AFAIK) whose father was born in Africa.
I think that's pretty cool.
YMMV
I'll jump in. I would describe him as a black guy with a close hair cut.
Racist, huh?
If he was a real white guy with a shaved off red head...gosh...guess I would give that description.
I am sick of giving race a break.
It's not about being racist. It's about what Obama is seen as. He is seen as a black man, he refers to himself as a black man, he's a black man.
As another poster mentioned. During the election he was seen as a black man, no questions asked. But now that he won, he's now "mixed race". I'm sure the Presidents before him all weren't 100% caucasian, so I'm sure Obama isn't the first "mixed race" President.
In the history books, he will go down as the first African American President.
In the history books, he will go down as the first African American President.
As he should. No one with proper eyesight would look at him and claim that he is anything but black.
He considers himself to be African-American. His father was Kenyan. He has dark brown skin and black hair. His facial features are those of an African-American man. He has black children. Regardless of the fact that his ethnicity indicates that he is biracial, he is most definitely a black man.
Not brain surgery, here, people. Anyone who doesn't understand this concept is, quite honestly, blind and/or dumb.
Since when has "black" or "African-American" meant that you cannot have any white in you?
Given that the majority of black people in this country have European blood in them (and a good many white people have African blood), why would anyone think the definition should change now? Oh, guess they cant stand the fact that we have a black president for once.
If a black American identifies with Barack Obama because he sees him as also black, so be it. If a white American identifies with Barack Obama because of his close relationship with his white family, so be it. If a biracial American (I am half Latino) identifies with Barack Obama for that reason, then so be it. Since race is a social construct rather than scientific fact, he is all of these and none of these at the same time.
I've seen people of color take enormous pride in him as their first black president. To then throw up your hands and tell them, "but he's BIRACIAL!" not only cheapens the debate, it ignores the very real social history from which that person draws.
This is not so cut and dry.
Not acknowledging Obama's mother cheapens the debate. No matter what society calls him, it doesn't change what he is and it doesn't help race relations when his white side isn't good enough to be acknowledged. You'd think that we'd move beyond labeling someone as either one race or the other. But apparently not.
Not acknowledging Obama's mother cheapens the debate. No matter what society calls him, it doesn't change what he is and it doesn't help race relations when his white side isn't good enough to be acknowledged. You'd think that we'd move beyond labeling someone as either one race or the other. But apparently not.
Funny how you never cared before.. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson didn't even acknowledge his own children, who were obviously half white, and they served him as his slaves? And many of his heirs to this day refuse to acknowledge that he had a life-time lasting relationship and several children with a girl he first "raped/seduced" when she was around 14 years old (I call it rape because I dont think a child can make this type of decision to be with an adult in a sexual fashion and he was in his late 20's). And that history was the RULE not the exception. So why is it only now that white people want to claim a part of a black person?
Funny how you never cared before.. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson didn't even acknowledge his own children, who were obviously half white, and they served him as his slaves? And many of his heirs to this day refuse to acknowledge that he had a life-time lasting relationship and several children with a girl he first "raped/seduced" when she was around 14 years old (I call it rape because I dont think a child can make this type of decision to be with an adult in a sexual fashion and he was in his late 20's). And that history was the RULE not the exception. So why is it only now that white people want to claim a part of a black person?
What race do you think I am? I'll give you a hint... my mother is blacker than Obama... So what am I... black?
He's African American. If people can't accept that then they need to move to Cambodia or something.
No, he was born here remember? He may have African blood but he is hardly African, you have him confused with his father that ditched him.
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